Ryan's 324 Combo Cube

Here's my list on cubetutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/3197

Concept is pretty simple, do broken things. Emrakul on turn 1 Storm off on turn 3 make infinite mana etc etc. Not color balanced at all and the lands used that aren't the draftable utility lands are "rainbow lands" meaning they tap for every color and count as every basic land type so as to not take away from the drafting experience by having to take mana fixing when you need to pick a grapeshot or what have you.
Original list was taken from Matt Kranstubers list on SCG. I've been updating it here and there and would love some feedback on cards or combos I might be overlooking and cards or combos that don't seem very strong. All criticisms and comments are welcome!
 

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
Well, I've never played a combo cube. How are you liking it? In what ways have you adapted Kranstuber's original design?
 
I love having the combo cube. It's a ton of fun and a complete blast to play. It's great for grid drafting as well as regular drafting for up to 6. It's really fantastic to play with because you get much more rewarded for moving in on a strategy as early as possible. Also you find all sorts of new interactions all the time which is great. As far as updates I've cut Squee/Solitary Confinement and added in a few cards as sets came out as well as things I thought were missing.

Updates include the following:Compulsion. Shred Memory. Orcish Lumberjack. Grinning Ignus. Dimir Charm. Sin Collector. Treasured Find. Goblin Electromancer. Nivix Guildmage. Epic Experiment, Wargate. Cabal Coffers.Lake of the Dead. Soldevi Excavations.

There's a few cards that aren't quite pulling their weight/never get played and they are the following:Ivory Mask. Plagiarize. Mystical Teachings. Read the Runes. Psychic Posession. Holistic Wisdom. Sundial of the Infinite.

If there's enough interest I would be more than happy to write a little bit about the various archetypes that are contained within the cube. I would highly recommend building this though if you enjoy just playing very very powerful magic.

Also any suggestions for things that I might have overlooked are quite welcome!
 

Eric Chan

Hyalopterous Lemure
Staff member
Yeah, I think we could all use a primer on how combo cubes work. I don't know that any of the regulars here have had exposure to this type of cube, which is probably why no one's been able to offer you any suggestions thus far. But if you could shed some light on what this is all about, by all means!
 
Okay so I finally have had time to write a primer for those interested in this cube. First off a few basic tips for drafting this cube.
-Familiarize yourself with the list! It's a huge benefit to be able to know the contents of the cube.
-Move in early and often! In most draft formats it's usually beneficial to keep yourself open. Not in this cube. You want to move in on an archetype as quickly as you possibly can. I.E. first pick a mind's desire or other various other archetype cards which I will list out.
-Don't limit yourself to one combo! Most often the best decks will have more than one combo available to them.
-Redundancy and card selection! Having access to multiple kinds of the same effect lead to a more powerful deck as does card selection. All your cards are powerful and do broken things so the faster you find those cards the faster your opponent dies!
-Sideboard cards are maindeckable! Don't be afraid to start something like a Chain of Vapor or Wipe away in your maindeck.

Every card in this cube all serves a specific function. There are the Combo Engines themselves. These are the cards you want to be first picking. Cards that reward you heavily for building around them. Various examples include cards such as Balance, Omniscience, Sneak Attack. The earlier you decide on cards like this the better your deck is going to wind up. In this same vein are the Kill Conditions of the cube. This category includes cards like Tendrils of Agony, Invoke the Firemind, and Underworld Connections. These are also cards that you're going to want to pick early. Don't be afraid to slam a Tendrils p1p1 and ignore powerful cards like Mana Drain in favor of a Dark Ritual.

Then there are the Enablers for you combos. After all what good is a Mind's Desire with no storm count or a Dream Halls with nothing to abuse with it like an Enter the Infinite? These are the things that help the payoff for your awesome first picks and include the following: Rituals. Up your storm count, power out something insane like a Sneak Attack on turn 1. Fatties. This is pretty self explanatory. Your Emrakul to Channel out on turn 1 or your Sundering Titan to Reanimate and blow up the word. Draw 7's. Refill your hand with a Wheel of Fortune when storming off or kill your opponent by having an Underworld Connections in play and chaining together a Time Spiral into a Windfall into a Memory Jar. Big Mana Lands and Artifact Mana. The roles of these are pretty obvious. Speed up what you can do. Ancient Tomb+Mox Sapphire=turn 1 Show and Tell a Griselbrand. You also have your various Cheat Cards (Eureka, Show and Tell, Elvish Piper) and Reanimation spells (Reanimate, Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead)

Like I said in the tips section Card Selection is very powerful, especially the tutors. If you're in say a Reanimator/Show and Tell/Sneak Attack strategy and you already have a few solid fatties like a Sundering Titan and a Griselbrand you might want to skip that Simic Sky Swallower and slam an Enlightened Tutor or Demonic Tutor instead. Having essentially multiple copies of your best cards is a huge plus as well as being able to dig for those cards with powerful draw spells like Ponder and Preordain. These are cards that once you feel you have a sufficient amount for your actual combo you should be valuing quite highly.

Now lest combos go unchecked there are ways in the cube to interact with your opponent so everybody isn't just racing and playing solitaire. These cards are going to be your Hate Bears (Thalia, True Believer, Ethersworn Canonist) your Discard (Thoughtseize, Inqusition, Appetite for Brains) and your Counterspells (Misdirection, Force of Will Pact of Negation.) The Hate Bears can even lend to a deck in and of itself while the discard and counterspells not only help slow down your opponent but push your own combo through.There are also plenty of Regrowth effects to help you recover from counterspells and discard as well as just buyback powerful cards you've already used. It feels quite good to EoT Gifts Ungiven for Noxious Revival, Regrowth, Ancestral Recall, and Snapcaster Mage.

All in all this cube is a complete blast to play with a huge variety of archetypes, things you can do, and interactions. I'm always finding cool new stuff to do and I've played this cube heavily. I hope that this was a helpful primer on the cube and if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, about it I would love to hear about it!
 
Theros updates to the combo cube if anyone is interested. Very small in number.

-Read the Runes
+ Swan Swong
-Psychic Posession
+Read the Bones
-Holistic Wisdom
+Satyr Hedonist

Non tTheros updates
+Hull Breach
+Squandered Resources
 
I'm still new to cubing in general, let alone playing/supporting combo, so I can only ask questions. My experience with combo decks ends at borrowing Legacy ANT, MUD, and Dredge a few times for quick games.

How fast do the games go? Are there consistent turn 1-2 wins? Or is there enough disruption to force players to wait and tread carefully?
Is Stronghold Gambit a playable Show and Tell?
Would the haste on Goryo's Vengeance make it playable? It's seen a little play in Legacy so far with Undercity Informer.
 
What can I say. I'm a degenerate. I love comboing people. I just always like to cover my bases to make sure I didn't leave out anything sweet.
 
A few more updates have been made to the cube if anybody is interested. Change log is on the cube tutor link
 
Keep us updated on your progress. I have a powered ~720 cube right now and am thinking about making the switch. Thoughts?
 
Keep us updated on your progress. I have a powered ~720 cube right now and am thinking about making the switch. Thoughts?

Hey Max. Would you clarify on what you mean by making the switch? Would you be trying to add combo into your 720? If so I wouldn't recommend that. As far as updates are concerned I've got the change log on the Cube Tutor link which I definitely recommend you checking out. I think the list as it stands right now is pretty much going to be the current iteration of the cube for awhile. I'm very happy with it and I think I've exhausted most possibilities and cut most of the chaff that didn't contribute very much. If you have any other questions I'm always more than happy to answer!
 
Jason Wadell cast Animate Dead targeting the Combo Cube thread. Do you have any questions about any card choices or archetypes or anything? I've drafted this thing a million times so I have a pretty deep understanding of it.
 
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